From Africa to Idioms

1. Study a story poem.

2. Learn about the elements of story poems.

3. Learn about the function of idioms.

The Village of Round Houses and Square Houses

by Ann Grifalconi

It was not until I was almost full-grown;

And left my village

That I found our village was like no other.

For the men live in square houses,

And the women, in round ones!

To me, this seemed the natural order of things.

“But what is it like?” You ask.

I will tell you how it was—and is—for me.

I grew up in my grandmother’s farm

In the village of Tos that lies

At the foot of Mother Naka

In the Bameni hills of West Africa.

We planted yams and corn and tobacco

And the finest coffee grown in the Cameroons.

Our village was always happy and peaceful—

A good place for boys and girls to grow up.

Then one peaceful night

before anyone alive remembers,

Old Naka began to groan and rumble

and awoke from a long sleep!

The villagers were frightened

and ran out of their houses

and hid in the bushes

at the foot of the mountain.

Suddenly, the black night

Was split open like a coconut!

And a great white burst of light

Rose like the sun!

Then the voice of our Mother Naka

Thundered out over all:

BOOM! BA-BOOM! BA-BOOM!

And the people cried out to Naka,

And prayed where they were lying down,

Hands pressing the earth, asking

“What have we done to so anger you?”

All through the night

Old Naka spoke to them

Shouting her anger to the skies

As red rivers of lava flowed down her sides.

When the sun rose

The people lifted their heads and looked about!

Everything was covered with ashes—

Even themselves!

Everyone looked like a gray ghost—

Trembling with fear

But grateful to be alive:

Naka had spared them!

Still covered with ashes—

The men, women and children

Faced the mountain together,

Went back to claim their homes.

But when they came to the burned-out village

Only two houses were left standing:

One square—and one round

And so it was done.

“What? Where? Why? How are we…?”

But the village chief

Had no time for such questions—

And he called them together:

“We must begin to rebuild our village now!”

He pointed to the ash-covered people:

You! Tall gray things!

You go live in the square house!

And you! Round gray things—

Go live in the round house!

And you small gray stones

Go out to the fields

So we can plant our crops again.

The women lived in the round house with the children

And the women talked and laughed—

preparing food for everyone.

The men stayed in the square house

And told each other tall stories

And planted yams and corn

Each day, in the new, rich soil.

And the children made a game

out of clearing the field of small, gray stones

And went swimming and fishing in the long afternoons…

And no one forgot to thank Naka

for sparing their lives

And giving them back such fine crops

from her good earth.

“And we still play and swim in the afternoon

But we bring home the fish we catch for supper

And we all get together then!”

“So you see, Osa,

We live together peacefully here

Because each one has a place to be apart

And a time to be together…”

She took me by the hand

And turned back to the round house.

And now that is

how our way came about

And will continue—

‘Till Naka speaks again!

Elements of a Story Poem

Rhythm

The way the stanzas are laid out helps with establishing a rhythm.

Rhyme

The repetition of a sound in certain words. End rhyme or internal rhyme

Tone

The tone reflects the author's attitude toward the subject and the characters. The author can control the tone by his or her choice of words, subject, descriptive details, and the sentence structure.

Sensory

Mental pictures created by words that describe what we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell.

Idioms

Examples of Idioms in Sentences

• I’ve been working here at my desk for three hours without a break. If I don’t go outside to get some fresh air soon, I think I’ll go nuts!

• I was a real basket case when I arrived home after my long trip.

• We were trying to drive to the swimming pool, but we got our directions mixed up.

• I asked Sara what she thought of my new haircut, but she just said it looked “nice.” But she usually has a poker face and I can never tell what she’s really thinking.

• Xavier can’t make up his mind whether he wants chocolate or strawberry ice cream.

• We really need to talk to Kristina about her work clothes. She thinks they’re OK, but the bosses are saying she looks unprofessional and that they might need to fire her. I guess we’ve got to be cruel to be kind and tell her that her clothes actually are pretty terrible.

• We really need to talk to Kristina about her work clothes. She thinks they’re OK, but the bosses are saying she looks unprofessional and that they might need to fire her. I guess we’ve got to be cruel to be kind and tell her that her clothes actually are pretty terrible.

• I think that every wedding DJ has a few special songs that he or she can play to start the party and make everyone get down.

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